Authentic Vs. Artificial Flourishing

Nov 3

AUTHENTIC VS ARTIFICIAL FLOURISHING
I recently heard a pastor describe Shalom as the absence of poverty, and
poverty as disconnection from resources and relationships. This is a broader
concept of poverty than I expected, but the more I think about it the more I
believe it.
It is easy for us to understand disconnection to external resources and
relationships. We all know people with limited food, shelter, medical care,
education, etc and limited access to people with money, power, and
connections. These are external resources and relationships, and these are
what we most commonly think about when we think about poverty.
But a lack of internal resources / relationships is also a source and
expression of poverty. People who lack spiritual health, mental health,
emotional health and/or physical health experience poverty because they
are disconnected from the internal resources and relationships they need to
flourish.
REDEFINING POVERTY:
LACK OF EXTERNAL RESOURCES
- Food & Water
- Shelter
- Safety
- Medical care
LACK OF EXTERNAL
RELATIONSHIPS
- Love
- Family
- Friendship
- Community
LACK OF INTERNAL RESOURCES / RELATIONSHIPS
- Spiritual Health / Relationship to God
- Mental Health / Relationship to Your Mind
- Emotional Health / Relationship to Your Soul
- Physical Health / Relationship to Your Body
Now that we have a more holistic understanding of poverty, we can come
back to the idea of flourishing. If Shalom is the absence of poverty, then
authentic flourishing is connection to the external resources, external
relationships, and internal resources / relationships listed above.
Two things surprise me as I look at the table above:
1. Money isn’t on the list. Yet it is often the first thing we think about
when we think about poverty. If money is not a defining attribute of
poverty, it also should not be a defining attribute of flourishing.
Authentic flourishing is access to resources and relationships, and
money is a way to access those resources. But it isn’t the only way.
2. This list is surprisingly independent of circumstances. Not entirely –
there are many people, even in America, who lack access to basic
external resources like food, shelter, and safety. But most of us have our basic needs met, many of us in abundance. For most of us,
flourishing is less about our circumstances and more about our attitude
towards our circumstances.
What then is Artificial Flourishing? There are multiple counterfeits for every
original. Likewise, there are different types of artificial flourishing. But here
are a few of the most common:
One Dimensional Flourishing
Perhaps the most common form of artificial flourishing is to reduce a multi-
dimensional process down to a single metric. Businesses are often guilty of
this. They view their business as healthy so long as their revenue and
profits are growing. But if the employees hate working for the company, the
suppliers hate working with the company, and the customers are unhappy
with the products and services, then this one-dimensional reduction of
flourishing is misguided and short lived. Imagine a hedge fund manager with
no friends, no family, 30 lbs overweight, a functioning alcoholic, and
depressed but with $10 M in the bank and an apartment that overlooks the
park. Is he flourishing? Most of us would say no, but many of us are on that
path.
Mistaking the Means for the Ends
While we all need access to resources and relationships, sometimes we get
distracted and define flourishing by the means not the end. We need money
for food and shelter, so we stockpile money as a proxy for flourishing. We
want to be loved, and we believe we will be loved if we are attractive, so we
improve our physical appearance as a proxy for love. We become so
obsessed with the means (our jobs, our paychecks, our appearance, etc) that
we rarely step back and evaluate our functional definitions.
Cosmetic Flourishing
A new member at the local gym once asked the personal trainer, “I don’t
want to be strong; I just want to look strong. What should I do?” To his credit,
the trainer told him to go away and come back when he was serious about
getting in shape. In the age of social media, it is very easy for appearances
to disguise the true nature of things. A family of attractive people taking a
vacation to an attractive destination can easily mask the loneliness and
misery of strained relationships.
Valuing Short Term Results Over Long-Term Process
Artificial flourishing promises results fast, with pain and suffering coming
later (if at all). Authentic flourishing promises pain and suffering now with
results coming later. No wonder most of us choose artificial flourishing!!! I
know I’m guilty of trying nearly every type. But anyone who has lived very
long knows that everything that truly matters in life (health, relationships,impact, legacy, wealth, etc) is a function of compound interest. There are no shortcuts. There are no silver bullets. Follow the process.
Are you on the path of authentic flourishing?